Category Archives: Canada wildfires

No internet, no phone: Canada wildfires expose fragility of rural infrastructure

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Remote communities suffer total loss of communications after fires damage critical fibre optic cables

Shortly before sunset on Friday, residents of Canada’s Yukon territory discovered their connection to the outside world had vanished. Internet access had gone. Mobile phones showed no signal. Landlines had failed.

Chaos quickly set in. Electronic payments couldn’t be processed. In Whitehorse, the capital, most ATMs couldn’t function and the few that did were quickly drained of cash from panicked residents. City officials warned that the ability to call police, ambulance or fire services was non-existent.

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Canada city devastated by 2016 wildfire faces evacuations as new blaze nears

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Residents of suburbs in Fort McMurray ordered to leave as officials monitor a fire nearby that has grown to cover 9,600 hectares

Residents of four suburbs in the Canadian city of Fort McMurray have been ordered to evacuate as a wildfire approaches the city, stirring grim reminders of the country’s costliest natural disaster.

Officials in the western province of Alberta issued evacuation orders for the neighbourhoods of Beacon Hill, Abasand, Prairie Creek and Grayling Terrace on Tuesday, telling all residents to leave by 4pm MT.

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Canadian man who claimed wildfires were a federal conspiracy admits arson

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The country saw record-breaking blazes during the summer and Brian Paré pleaded guilty to lighting more than a dozen fires

A Canadian man who claimed forest fires were the result of a government conspiracy has pleaded guilty to lighting more than a dozen blazes during the country’s record-breaking wildfire season, as nearly 100 fires persist in drought-stricken regions.

Brian Paré admitted to 13 counts of arson and one count of arson with disregard for human life at the courthouse in central Quebec, an act that drew away key firefighting resources from nearly 700 fires in the province last summer.

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Canada wildfires: Trudeau deploys military to tackle blazes across British Columbia

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More than 35,000 residents under evacuation orders across province, while flames are being held at bay 15km from Yellowknife in Northwest Territories

Canada will send in armed forces to tackle fast-spreading wildfires in British Columbia, prime minister Justin Trudeau has said, as more than 35,000 people were put under evacuation orders in the western province.

British Columbia imposed a state of emergency late on Friday, giving officials more power to deal with fire risks. The main fire was centered around Kelowna, a city 300km (180 miles) east of Vancouver with a population of about 150,000.

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Canada wildfires: thousands told to flee in British Columbia, as drone-flying tourists criticised

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Minister says it is a matter of life and death for residents near city of Kelowna, as drone operators warned against ‘irresponsible’ activity in fire areas

Officials in the Canadian province of British Columbia have implored tens of thousands of residents to heed warnings and evacuate from areas threatened by “severe and fast-changing” wildfires, and urged “irresponsible” wildfire tourists to stop flying drones in the area.

“We cannot stress strongly enough how critical it is to follow evacuation orders when they are issued,” Bowinn Ma, the province’s minister of emergency management, said on Saturday. “They are a matter of life and death not only for the people in those properties, but also for the first responders who will often go back to try to implore people to leave.”

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Canada wildfires: British Columbia in state of emergency as 19,000 flee Yellowknife fire

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Premier says days ahead will be ‘extremely challenging’, as firefighters in neighbouring Northwest Territories fight to save city

The premier of the Canadian province of British Columbia has declared a state of emergency, saying authorities there were “facing the worst wildfire season ever”, as thousands were evacuated from cities east of Vancouver.

Premier David Eby said on Friday night: “Over the past 24 hours, the situation has evolved rapidly and we are in for an extremely challenging situation in the days ahead.”

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Canada fire crews battle to stop wildfire from engulfing city of Yellowknife

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Firefighters work around clock to spread retardant and dig fire breaks as thousands evacuate capital of Northwest Territories

Fire crews are working around the clock to dig fuel breaks, spread fire retardant and drop water from the air in emergency efforts to stop a vast wildfire from destroying the capital city of Canada’s Northwest Territories (NWT).

Teams used backhoes and bulldozers to carve out huge 100m x 15,000m fuel breaks in the surrounding forests, removing trees and brush in hopes of stopping the 1,670 sq km (644 sq mile) blaze from reaching Yellowknife.

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Canada faces ‘long, tough summer’ of wildfires with even hotter temperatures

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More than 9m hectares of country had burned, federal data shows, shattering 34-year record

Canadian officials have warned that the country faces a “long, tough summer” of wildfires as the current season shatters previous records and forecasts predict even hotter temperatures to come.

Federal data showed that on Friday more than 9m hectares (22.2m acres) of the country had burned, shattering a 34-year record.

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Texas heatwave blamed for 13 deaths as scorching temperatures and smoke spread across US – as it happened

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Detroit extends air quality alert through Thursday while evacuation orders in effect in Arizona as crews fight Diamond fire

President Joe Biden arrived in Chicago earlier this morning, touching down at O’Hare International Airport under hazy skies caused by smoke from Canadian wildfires.

Biden is expected to deliver a major speech at 1pm EST in Chicago.

Concentrations of smoke will likely be high throughout the day in western Pennsylvania and increasing throughout the day in eastern Pennsylvania.

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